Nick, who received about 22 percent of the 47,000 votes cast, spent $59,450 on the election. It was his first council race.

Robinson, who finished second with 9,381 votes, spent $38,295.94. Robinson made his first bid for council in 2002. He came in fifth out of seven in that race.

Campaign records show the two outspent per vote all other successful candidates in the past decade of City Council elections. Nick spent $5.70 per vote; Robinson spent $4.08. It was also the first council election in that time frame in which a successful candidate broke the $4-per-vote mark.

Both candidates spent significantly more per vote than the top finisher in the city's previous council election. In 2010, Scott Voigts, now Lake Forest's mayor, spent $3.33 per vote.

Contributions reported by the Nick campaign totaled $59,650, coming nearly entirely from a series of self-loans totaling $52,000.

Robinson reported $39,373.65 in contributions, including $10,000 in self-loans.

Here's a look at spending by the other candidates in the 2012 election:

Terry Anderson, a former planning commissioner who came in third, spent $26,661.27.

Anderson ran in tandem with Kathy Zechmeister, who spent $23,349 and came in sixth.

Jim Gardner spent $7,889.70 and came in fourth place.

Former Councilwoman Marcia Rudolph, part of the city's founding council, reported $6,998.63 in expenditures. She finished fifth.